A raw and honest diary entry from Victoria, where the thrill of initial success meets the gritty reality of unforeseen hiccups. I open up about our rollercoaster launch, from the adrenaline rush of our April 1st episode's download spike to the annoying technical disasters that had us scrambling in the dead of night. It's a tale of sleep-deprived nights, disabled shopping carts, and the sobering reminder that no victory is without its trials. But through the chaos, the unwavering support from a community of fellow female entrepreneurs shines brightly, teaching us all a masterclass in resilience and the power of solidarity.
The Female Entrepreneur Box launches on APRIL 1ST 2024
Get 40% OFF your first box on 6 & 12 month subscriptions, PLUS A FREE MONTH
A raw and honest diary entry from Victoria, where the thrill of initial success meets the gritty reality of unforeseen hiccups. I open up about our rollercoaster launch, from the adrenaline rush of our April 1st episode's download spike to the annoying technical disasters that had us scrambling in the dead of night. It's a tale of sleep-deprived nights, disabled shopping carts, and the sobering reminder that no victory is without its trials. But through the chaos, the unwavering support from a community of fellow female entrepreneurs shines brightly, teaching us all a masterclass in resilience and the power of solidarity.
The Female Entrepreneur Box launches on APRIL 1ST 2024
Get 40% OFF your first box on 6 & 12 month subscriptions, PLUS A FREE MONTH
Hello everyone, it's Victoria here and welcome back to another episode of my Entrepreneur Diary, so let's dive straight in. So, as many of you know, we launched last week and just quickly just want to say, on the ep that dropped last Monday, the 1st of April, which was the same day as our launch day, we had so many downloads, we had a lot, lot more than normal, so I just wanted to say thank you so much for that, because of course, that's what we want. So launch Now. It would be very easy for me to just come on here and say we had a fantastic launch. It all went right, there was no problems, but unfortunately I can't do that because that really was not the case and because this is a diary, it's a running commentary of starting a business. It's so paramount that I am transparent with you and that is what we are going to talk about with you, and that is what we are going to talk about.
Speaker 1:So how did the launch go? Well, the first thing that happened was the website went down. So of course, that is not what you want to happen on launch day. And then, as we were going through the day, I found that there were other problems with the website. So I actually had to do the worst thing which you can possibly do, I personally think, on your launch day and your launch week and I had to switch off the cart. I know I hear you saying you saying what you had to switch off the car. Yes, I did, I had no, I had no choice. So there were a few problems and we just we couldn't have people subscribing when these problems were still there and, unbeknown to me, they had been sorted. I'd sorted them myself, but it just, it just wasn't happening. So it was heartbreaking in in all honesty, because, as as most of you know, it has been, I would say, probably two and a half years, nearly three years, in the works to get the female entrepreneur box out there and, as you all know as well, we have had oh my god, I can't even tell you how many problems there has been with the hacking of the social medias, not being able to advertise.
Speaker 1:Now, just those two things were humongous because when I had my last business, I always advertised. I was really good at it. To be honest with you, I was very, very good at advertising and I didn't actually have to spend a huge amount on each campaign to be able to get the return that I wanted on each campaign, to be able to get the return that I wanted. So I had the goals for the return, I had what I wanted to make and I would say, yeah, the majority of times I hit those goals and actually didn't have to spend a huge amount of money.
Speaker 1:Now, the difference was this time is one I couldn't advertise, and number two. Two, when I did come to advertise, which was literally days before the launch. And if you advertise and you do Facebook ads and also, you know, not just Facebook ads but ads but a lot of other advertising you're in a test period first. So you have to give your advertising, say, like with Google Ads, there's always a test period to see what works and what doesn't. And that's why I think they do the AB split tests, say on Facebook ads, because you can work out what works better for you and for your business.
Speaker 1:But of course you know I didn't start advertising until days before I think it was about a week before which, of course you know, let's be honest, it was not going to work. So you know, if I did a course on how not to launch, I think it would do very, very, very well. However, you have to be resilient in these things and I've got to be honest. First of all, I just thought, oh my god, I'm launching, what am I gonna do? And I did panic, and I think anyone in that situation would panic. I'm very, very lucky that I'm surrounded by some amazing female entrepreneurs who, on the Monday on launch day, were all in touch with me saying, right, ok, if you do this or you do that, and I was on to also to the platform where my website is, and they were doing their best to help as well.
Speaker 1:Did I envisage that it would take a week? No, I didn't, because the cart has only been switched on today, which is a week later. But you know what it is, what it is. I think sometimes you just have to go with it. There's nothing else that you can do. And it got to, I don't know, 24, 48 hours later and I just thought, well, what is the point in worrying? What am I doing? Why am I worrying? And I was working literally up until one, two, three o'clock in the morning trying to sort it out, but then, you know, the next day, when I was getting up, I felt like absolute crap. I couldn't concentrate, and therefore I think possibly that's what took me a little bit longer, because I'm so tired trying to sort it out.
Speaker 1:Um, and I really, I think I really noticed last week that you know, if things do go wrong, they go wrong and that's that. Um, was it going to really affect my business that actually I was launching it, you know, launching days later when actually it'd take me two and a half three years to put together? In all honesty, no, would I have preferred for my launch to go correct? Of course I would, oh my god, of course I would, but these things are sent to try us. One thing, though, that I really worked on last week, but actually unconsciously didn't realize that I was doing it until we'd got to this past weekend and I'd realised that I'd really worked on my resilience, and I realised that actually I was really resilient last week and I had adapted the attitude of you know what has happened. Just get on with it.
Speaker 1:And I think sometimes it's really important to be like that because, let's be honest, business is certainly not a straight line. I mean, I would have liked for it to have been a lot more straighter than what happened last week. Of course I would have, but business is not a straight line. It throws every curveball at you, every curveball at you. But I think what really matters is how we deal with it and how we react. And I think you know what. I think you could say that in life, couldn't you? Because you can have certain things thrown at you by different people, positive and negative. But actually it's. You have one power and that power is how you choose to react. If you choose to react in not the best way, it's only going to repercuss on you.
Speaker 1:And with my business, I knew I knew, probably unconsciously at the back of my mind that actually, if I dealt with this the wrong way and I wasn't resilient, it just wasn't going to work, it just I would not be able to sort these problems out. So, armed with a lot of coffee, a huge amount of coffee, um, but it was the organic kind, so we're okay but armed with a lot of coffee and a huge amount of resilience. Today it has been a week. Would I have wanted it to take a week? No, I think a couple of days, it would have been great. But you know what these things are sensitized, and that's it. I sorted it out and the cart is now on.
Speaker 1:You can go and order the female entrepreneur box. If you are starting a business, if you are pivoting, if you are making a strategic never say that word strategic, pivot can't say pivot now in your business then this box is for you. It has everything that you need. It has no crap, stuff that you're going to buy and put on the shelf just because it looks pretty. It is stuff that you are. It is items that you are going to need when you start your business or you are pivoting, or however you want to put it. So that is how my launch went.
Speaker 1:Did I get over it? Yes, of course I did, and now I get to do the fun bit, and that is to push the female entrepreneur box and grow the business, which that's the bit that I love and that's the bit that I'm so, so excited, bit that I'm so, so excited about. Do you know what I will touch on, though? I learned a lot last week. I learned how to be resilient, and we've covered that, but I also learned that there was lots of different things I guess one for a better word that I didn't know about the platform that I was working on. So, by actually learning and mapping out everything that I was doing even more to overcome these problems, I learned a huge amount about the platform, which you know. Sometimes you think, well, maybe I don't know, maybe that was meant to be, I don't know, but I learned a lot. I learned a huge amount.
Speaker 1:So, going forward, the podcast is now going to be released an ep every Monday, because I can now do that, because I haven't got all of the planning of putting the business and everything together in the background.
Speaker 1:So I'm really excited to bring you that we have some amazing guests from all over the world, um, who are going to be coming on, I think, for I would say, from the end of April, and I'm so, so, looking forward to that, because we get to talk about all things business, all types of businesses, and what it's really like to make that decision of starting a business but then actually executing it as well.
Speaker 1:I think making the decision and actually doing it is a completely different thing, and you know we can all have ideas, can't we? We can all have different ideas of what we're going to do, but how many of those ideas come to fruition? I know I've had a lot of ideas and they've never come to fruitition, and you know, I used to be kind of embarrassed about that, and then I realized actually no, because out of those ideas you pick the best one and you go ahead with that, and so it was something. It was just part of my journey, I guess. Anyway, next week we are going to be talking all things business, and I am again, of course, and I'm going to be telling you about some of the guests that we have coming on in the coming months. So have a great day, whatever you are doing, and I will be back to speak to you soon.